Above It All
by Vicki595
Summary: Exploring what they shouldn’t, in a place above it all - COMPLETE
1. Given Our Ranks and Working Relationship

  
  
**

"Given Our Ranks and Working Relationship"

**   
  
  
  
**CATEGORY:** Romance   
**SPOILERS:** "Divide and Conquer," "One Hundred Days," small ones for "In The Line of Duty"   
**PAIRING:** Sam/Jack   
**SUMMARY:** Exploring what they shouldn't, in a place above it all   
**DISCLAIMER:** All publicly recognisable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognised characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.   
  
  


"Names please." A smiling, middle aged woman looked up as they neared, both looking as though they shouldn't be there. 

"I'm Jack O'Neill and this is Samantha Carter," the tall, greying man told her, indicating the woman next to him as he told the second name. 

The receptionist smiled up at them, pity obviously evident in her eyes. 

"Ah, Appointment 3," she told them, consulting a large book on her desk. "If you'll just go through, someone will be there in a few minutes." 

"Thanks," Jack replied, flashing a quick smile at the woman. He gallantly held the door open for Sam, avoiding looking at the sign on it proclaiming "Forbidden Love." A quick, nervous smile was his reward as she stepped from the cold, sterile corridor. Jack felt a bit like Alice as he stepped after her into _his_ wonderland. 

The room they entered was small, but cosy. A comfortable looking sofa was against the far wall; a small table with a jug of water and two glasses and a light either side. To their right, there was a single chair with another table next to it. The room was tastefully decorated in warm, welcoming colours, completely contrasting with the stark corridor outside. 

They were both quiet as they crossed the room, and sat down side-by-side on the sofa. 

Jack resisted the desire to place his arm around Sam, until she moved closer and laid her head on his shoulder wearily. He placed his arm around her waist and pulled her close. They were silent - just enjoying the contact. 

The door opened, and they leapt apart immediately as though they had been bitten. Sam's cheeks flushed crimson, and Jack was having trouble maintaining an outwards appearance. A smartly dressed young woman entered, carrying a folder. She smiled when she saw the couple, and Jack was struck by how familiar it was, although he couldn't place it. 

"Hi," she greeted, sitting down in the chair, and turning it to face them. "I'm Caitlin, and you must be Jack and Sam. 

Sam just nodded, while Jack croaked "Yeah." This experience was so surreal and he was unnerved by the young woman's familiarity. Neither picked up on the fact that they had registered as Jack and Samantha, while the young woman had greeted them as Jack and Sam. 

Caitlin turned to the papers that she had deposited on the table next to her, and picking up a pen, she placed them on her lap. 

"I just need to clarify a few details before we begin," she told them. "You're both in the USAF, currently part of SG-1 stationed at Cheyenne Mountain Complex - correct?" 

"Yeah," Jack confirmed, Sam still embarrassed from having almost been caught together with her superior officer. Something told Jack that "classified" meant nothing there - wherever, or **whatever** "there" was. 

"Good," Caitlin declared, scribbling down on her pad. Looking up, she stared first at Sam and then at Jack, ensuring that she made eye contact each time. "Now we talk." 

"About what?" Jack wanted to know. "The weather, hockey, how stupid Daniel looked on the last mission? Take your pick." 

Caitlin smiled, and again Jack tried to place it. "We talk about what you cannot talk about away from here. Or rather, **you** talk about what you are not allowed to admit given your ranks, your current working relationship." 

Caitlin used virtually the same wording that Sam had used concerning the incident when they had both been believed to be za'tarcs, and Jack looked at her in surprise. She couldn't have known about that surely? 

"Oh. Oh that," Jack mumbled, repeating his answer back then. "I don't know how I'm supposed to talk about that." 

"Just try speaking from your heart," Caitlin urged them. "Here there are no rules and regulations governing you. Here you are no longer Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter. You're just Jack and Sam - man and woman." 

Jack exhaled loudly. "So I tell you that I love her?" he asked. 

Sam turned to look at him. "You love me?" she asked, surprise evident in her voice. "I knew you... cared, but not that you loved me." 

"Yes I love you," Jack declared, wondering how someone so smart could have missed that. "I love how excited you get over all your science things. I love how you always stand up for yourself, and don't take no crap from anybody. I love the way you make me feel whenever I'm around you. I love you Samantha Carter." 

Sam looked ready to burst into tears as Jack finished his heartfelt declaration. "I love you too," she replied. "I love how you pretend to listen to Daniel, or how you don't even try to pretend to understand my science. I love it how you don't do what's expected of you. I love the way that looking forward to seeing you, spending time with you makes my days a lot better. I love you Jack O'Neill - I always have done." 

"Well, that was a good start," Caitlin decided, smiling as Jack wrapped Sam in his arms. "I realise that what you've just said you can't say anywhere else, and I assure you that anything said in this room will not leave here." 

"But what's the point?" Sam asked, enjoying the comfort of Jack's arms around her. "Just because we know that our love for each other is mutual, it doesn't change our circumstances." 

"No, but it has allayed your fears," Caitlin pointed out. "Both of you feared that your love was unrequited. A fear further intensified when other people started to show interest in either of you, and when the attraction appeared to be mutual. Laira, for instance," she looked at Jack, who visibly squirmed at the thought. "Or Martouf," Caitlin continued, turning to Sam, who had the decency to blush. "And I think these... trysts, shall we call them - deserve to be discussed. Jack?" 

Caitlin had already picked up on the fact that Sam was willing to let Jack always lead - perhaps due to his superior rank in the 'real world,' or perhaps for another reason. 

Jack took a deep breath as he tried to think of a way to start. "I'm not going to apologise for Laira," he told the two women. "Because there's nothing to apologise for. I was trapped millions of light-years from Earth, with the possibility of never coming back. I was never going back again; never going to see Sam again. Laira took me into her home, when no one else would even look at me. Payan said that he'd seen the fire rain hit the Stargate. I didn't even know if Sam and Teal'c had survived. Laira was there, and she tried to distract me, and in a way she succeeded. But I never loved her." His voice took on a wistful tone. "I would often sit by the river, thinking of home. I never considered Edora my home. For me, home was wherever Sam was, even if we weren't together. And when I found Teal'c, trying to dig up to the surface, I knew that I was going home and I felt truly happy for the first time in three months." 

"But when we were finally able to get through the gate, you walked away from me when I was talking," Sam reminded him, her voice choked with unshed tears. "You left me, to see her." 

"I left before I did something stupid, like kissed you, or told you that I loved you," Jack confessed, not wanting to meet either woman's eyes. "As far as I cared, rules and regulations didn't mean a thing at that point. You were the only thing that mattered." 

"Anything else Jack?" Caitlin prompted, making Jack wonder if the young woman was telepathic. 

"It was on Edora that I realised just how much you meant to me," he said. "And seeing you only confirmed that." 

Sam had tears in her eyes as she turned her head up to look at the man she loved. "It was while you were on Edora that I realised how much you meant to me too," she told him. "Actually, Janet realised it before I did. A ship could have got to you in a year, but I said that you shouldn't have to wait that long. **I** didn't want to wait that long." 

"So you rewrote the laws of physics to get him home?" Caitlin asked. "Not for advancing science, but to return one man home to you." 

Sam just nodded, gathering her thoughts. "I worked virtually non-stop for those three months. I lived off coffee, and whatever Janet force-fed me - I don't even know what it was. The only time I slept was when she injected me with sedatives, or slipped them into my coffee." 

Jack looked shocked. "You did all that for me?" he asked. "You nearly **killed** yourself to get me home?" 

"Well, there were all those Edorian refugees stuck on Earth," she teased, trying to lighten the sombre mood that had fell upon the room. 

Caitlin just chuckled as Jack started to tickle Sam mercilessly, trapping her in-between his body and the sofa. She looked away as their mouths met, and started a hesitant, but then more forceful exploration of each other. 

After a few minutes the need for oxygen overcame them, and they pulled away reluctantly; Jack caressing Sam's cheek, seemingly completely oblivious to the fact that they were not alone in the room. 

They returned to their previous position of sitting up-right on the sofa; Sam's face slightly flushed, although to her credit, Caitlin said nothing, despite the fact that both officers could see that she wanted to. 

"And now Sam, it's your turn to explain about Martouf," Caitlin reminded her. "I believe he's who Jack would have described as the biggest threat." 

"Hey! It's not my fault she has her own inter-galactic fan club?" Jack protested, although the smile that was now permanently on his face now Sam was in his arms showed that he wasn't really being serious. 

Sam sighed, and relaxed back into Jack's arms as she began to speak. "The feelings I had for Martouf were strange," she started. "They weren't always there, but when they were they were overwhelming. Jolinar loved him so much that when a part of her was left in me, a part of those feelings were there too. I, as Sam, never loved him. Cared for him as a friend - yes, but never loved him. Jolinar was the one who loved him, and she never fully had control of me." 

"What about Martouf's feelings for you?" Caitlin asked, and Jack wondered how she knew all she did. Was this something to do with the Asgard, or another race they had yet to meet, and if so, why were they doing this? And who was their mysterious, yet somehow familiar guide? 

"I can't speak for him," Sam reminded them. "But I believe that he loved me because of what I still carried of Jolinar. He never got to know me, the real Samantha Carter, so I knew that he couldn't have loved me. His attraction to me was purely based on what he still felt for Jolinar." 

"I was still jealous of him," Jack confessed. "It was just that there was this part of you that only he could understand. You never talked with any of us about what happened with Jolinar - only what you had to say about the Tok'ra. And when he came, and he knew that part of you - intimately, I was jealous, and in some ways I was sad and angry." 

He could see the unspoken question in Sam's eyes, so just continued. "I was sad because I wanted you to be able to trust me enough and I was angry at myself for thinking of myself when it was you who had gone through the blending. I was angry at Martouf for trying to take you away from me, I was angry at the USAF who **had** taken you away from me. I was sad because I knew that he was a man who you could be with freely without any regulations, and I was sad because I believed that I was about to lose you to him." 

"Jack - I'd never leave you," Sam replied, holding his hand in hers and caressing it gently with her thumbs. "You are such a big part of my life that it's impossible for me to even imagine living without you anymore." "Do you really mean that?" Jack asked. She nodded. "That's why I won't leave SG-1. I can't bear the thought of you being out there in the field without me. I hate feeling hopeless to help you. You're my number one priority whenever we're in that field, and that makes me feel guilty, because I know I should be looking out for Daniel. And I know that if ever I have to make a choice, then to prove to everyone else, I can't choose you. Then the thought of that is so awful that I realise that I can't let myself get in that situation, and so I work twice as hard to make sure I don't find myself in that position." 

"I know, because I wouldn't be allowed to choose you either," Sam reminded him, tears starting to swell up in her blue eyes. "That's why the military has the non-fraternisation regulations." "Yet maybe someday you will find someway around them," Caitlin reminded them. "There are so many things that can change in so short a time, and each will have an impact on you, and your relationship. We can't predict what will happen tomorrow - all we know is that you two are _kaldon_ - soul mates for want of a better translation. That is why you are here - because finding your _kalda_ is so rare, and often so unexpected, that often a helping hand is needed." 

"So that is why you are our guide?" Sam questioned, and Caitlin nodded. "But who are you? Why are you here? Why are you doing this for us?" 

Another smile, this one of knowing more than she was allowed to say. "We're not here to talk about me," she reminded them. "I can't say anything. But you can." 

"Fine," Jack declared. "If I can say anything here..." He slid off the sofa; Sam's hand still tightly clutched in his. Kneeling on one knee in front of her, he began to speak. "Samantha, I know that this is something that I can't ask you in real life, but I love you, and I always want you to know that. I want to be with you forever. Will you consent to making me the happiest man wherever we are, and become my wife?" 

Sam smiled, more tears cascading down her face. "Jack if I could I would marry you in a heartbeat. I would love to marry you, and I swear that as soon as we can when we are back on Earth then I will become your wife in every way possible. Until then, I will cherish what we have shared here, and look forward to a future together." 

Caitlin averted her tear glistening eyes as the couple embraced once again, smiling as her job was complete, and Jack O'Neill and Samantha Carter were happy, or at least as happy as they could be while they were still apart from each other. 

"What you have shared here today is more than words," she began. "You have bared your souls to one another, you have offered your hearts and those hearts have been accepted. Do not ever fear your feelings; do not ever feel ashamed of them. What you share is a bond so rare that there are those who would kill and/or die for that experience. Never let other people dissuade you into thinking otherwise. What you feel is true love; the foundation is so strong that nothing will shake it, providing that even while you are on Earth, you have memory of this place, and you do again what you did here. Just simply talk." 

She got up, as did Jack and Sam, hand-in-hand, smiling at the couple. 

"Thank you for this," Sam told her sincerely, her blue eyes sparkling with happiness. 

"There is nothing to thank me for," Caitlin assured them, the smile still present on her face as she opened the door for them. 

Allowing Sam to proceed him, Jack followed when it struck him. He knew that smile, and why the young woman was so familiar. He turned back to face her, recognition, wonder and surprise all showing on his face. 

Caitlin held up a finger to her grinning lips and just winked. 

Jack understood. 


	2. Comparing Notes

  
  
**

"Comparing Notes"

**   
  
  
  
**CATEGORY:** Romance, Crossover   
**SPOILERS:** None for Stargate. "Resolutions" and "Day of Honour" for Star Trek: Voyager   
**SEASON/SEQUEL:** Pre-Meridian. Sequel to "Given Our Ranks and Working Relationship"   
**PAIRING:** Sam/Jack, Daniel/Janet (Janeway/Chakotay (Star Trek:Voyager), Paris/Torres (Star Trek: Voyager), John/Aeryn (Farscape), Riker/Troi (Star Trek: The Next Generation) Grissom/Catherine (CSI) hinted at)   
**SUMMARY:** When all is said and done   
**DISCLAIMER:** All publicly recognisable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognised characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.   
**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** This is a sequel to "Given Our Ranks and Working Relationships," trying to explain a bit more of the cryptic things.   
  
  


The door opened, and several faces looked up expectantly as Caitlin entered the room. 

"Well?" demanded a girl of her own age, with clear blue eyes and dark red hair. "How did it go?" 

Caitlin grinned as she flopped down into a nearby armchair. "God they were stubborn," she announced. "With those genes, I never had a chance!" 

Her friend chuckled. "But at least you got your mom's brains," she reminded Caitlin. "Did it go well?" 

A soft smile spread over Caitlin O'Neill's face, as she remembered the time she had just spent with her future parents. "Oh yeah," she replied quietly. "They admitted they loved each other, and dad essentially proposed to mom. I just can't explain the feeling I got when I saw them together Sammy." 

Samantha Jackson smiled. "I think know what you mean. I just hope I can get my mom and dad to 'see the light' so to speak. I wish Cassie was eligible for this - I'm really scared I'm gonna muck it up." 

"You'll do fine," Caitlin assured her, before looking around the room. All the guides there were female, and she recognised most, if not all of them there. It was obvious looking around the room that all were not completely human, and she knew that there were many more who looked human, but were in fact completely different races. 

"Hey - there's Taya," Sammy waved over the young woman, whose dark skin was a complete contrast with her bright blue eyes and auburn hair. "How was your last session?" 

"It's getting so bad that I'm considering real world intervention," Taya announced bluntly, although it was clear she had been crying previously. "Mom just keeps quoting Starfleet regulations at me left, right and centre, while dad thinks that he's on some sort of warped vision quest. 

"But Taya, you already stranded them on a planet supposedly for the rest of their lives," Sammy pointed out. "What are you going to do to top that?" 

"Try Miral's tactic of oxygen depletion while floating alone in space?" Taya suggested hopefully. "Look - I've got to go and keep an eye on this Seven of Nine character, so I best be off. Sammy - be thankful that Janet and Daniel don't have any regulations in their way." 

"Oh believe me I am," Sammy replied as Taya headed off to the observation centre. "I've just got my dad's ex-wife who he feels he's betraying and my mom's ex-husband who abused her to put up with." 

Caitlin opened her mouth to say something, but they were interrupted by a body planting herself in the chair just vacated by Taya. "Guess what?" The new arrival asked. 

"I have no idea," Caitlin replied, turning to look at Megan Riker. 

"Mom and dad are getting married," she announced in what was almost classed as a high pitched squeal. 

Both Caitlin and Sammy smiled with delight at the news, as it was what they all aimed for at what they called 'the institute.' 

"Oh Meg, that's great news," Caitlin congratulated. "Well done." 

Megan gave a shy smile. "Oh well, a little real life intervention was all it took. But I hear congratulations are in order for you too Cat - getting your parents to admit they were in love in the first session. Good on you." 

Now it was Caitlin's turn to look embarrassed. "Well, it was only the rules and regulations that were holding them back really," she explained. "I removed them, and they had nothing to hide behind." 

Anything more they had to say was disturbed by the chime, warning them of an upcoming announcement. The mechanical voice came through the speakers. 

"Samantha Jackson to Room 1, Rachel Crichton to Room 2 and Claire Grissom to Room 3 please. Appointment 5 will begin shortly. Megan Riker report to the head's office please immediately. Thank you." 

Sammy was visibly shaking as she stood up. 

"Don't worry about it," Caitlin assured her. "Try to get them to talk about their pasts, and discuss their fears for the future and everything will be fine." 

Sammy nodded as she headed out the door with the other three guides. Caitlin was left alone as she picked up the control for the real life monitor, and switched it one. Time to see what was happening in the world of _"Stargate SG-1_." 


	3. Undivided Attention

  
  
**

"Undivided Attention"

**   
  
  
  
**CATEGORY:** Romance   
**SPOILERS:** "Children of the Gods" "Divide and Conquer" "Forever in a Day" "The Curse"   
**SEASON/SEQUEL:** Pre-Meridian. Sequel to "Comparing Notes"   
**PAIRING:** Daniel/Janet   
**SUMMARY:** Here, you can not hide from the heart.   
**DISCLAIMER:** All publicly recognisable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognised characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.   
**AUTHOR'S NOTES:** I just thought that writing about Janet and Daniel's experiences would tie everything up in this strange little world I made up! There will be no more like it. (Says she who is notorious at changing her mind. But I mean it this time. Honestly!)   
  
  
  


When Samantha Jackson made it to Room 2, she only found Doctor Janet Fraiser sitting on the couch, looking around the small room furtively. With a shy smile, Sammy sat down in her designated chair, and busied herself with her notes. She kept sneaking glances up at the woman who was to be her mother, until there was a knock at the door, and Doctor Daniel Jackson made his appearance, almost ten minutes late. 

"Sorry," he apologised, his attention completely focused on Janet. He seemed surprised when he turned around and saw the petite girl in the corner. Sammy had taken after her mother physically, although she had no really distinguishing features that could point her out as their daughter, with perhaps the exception of the eyes. "Uh hi." 

Sammy smiled back. "Hi. Now that you're here, we can begin. I'm Samantha, but Sam or Sammy will do. You are Doctor Janet Fraiser, and Doctor Daniel Jackson, correct?" 

They both agreed, and having taken his seat next to Janet, Daniel spoke up. "What exactly are we here for?" he asked. "And why are you here?" 

"We are here to talk," Sammy replied with the standard answer that all the guides had been trained to give. "And I am here to guide you." 

"Guide us where?" Janet wanted to know. "We're not going anywhere, are we?" 

"Exactly," the girl informed them, and Janet looked confused. Taking pity on her, Sammy elaborated. "You two aren't going anywhere. Your relationship is stagnant." 

"We're friends," Daniel defended, hoping that a pre-emptive strike would prevent the girl from forcing him to reveal how he wanted his relationship with the petite doctor to develop. "We'll get together for lunch, or drinks and we talk." 

"Then you're interrupted," Sammy pointed out. With Janet being the base CMO, she was always being called back to the infirmary for some reason or another, and Daniel was often required to translate some artefact that could potentially change human life, but never did. 

Janet shrugged. "We both have busy lives," she replied, not further elaborating on what they did inside Cheyenne Mountain, as the girl couldn't have clearance and would not know what was concealed beneath the natural landform. 

"Well, you do," Sammy conceded. 

"Hey," Daniel protested, as she had expected him to do. She had spent most of her childhood teasing him, and her parents had declared that she spent far too much time around her godfather. "I have a busy life too." 

"You spend half your life in the infirmary," Sammy argued, although her dancing blue eyes showed that she wasn't being too serious. "Which gives you plenty of time to talk to Janet, except for the fact that you're too afraid." 

"Afraid of what?" Janet asked curiously, turning to look at the handsome man sat next to her. She had long decided what Daniel Jackson meant to her, and only her respect for his dead wife Sha're, and her desire to preserve their friendship had prevented her from asking him out. He had never given her any hint that he liked her more than a friend, and didn't want to make a fool of herself. She was like her father; very contained and kept her emotions hidden from even those who were closest to her, and to admit that she had feelings for Daniel would be a big step for her. But there was no way she would admit to them, unless she was sure that the feeling was reciprocated, and despite Sam's constant assurances, Janet wanted to wait until she had some evidence from the man himself. 

Daniel's cheeks were beginning to colour; he had often declared that he was no good with his feelings. "Getting hurt," he said, hoping that would be enough and he would be removed from the scrutiny of the two women in the room. 

Janet knitted her brows together in confusion. "Why would I hurt you?" she asked. "I'm a doctor Daniel, which means that I make people better as opposed to hurt them." 

Daniel mumbled a response, which neither of the room's other occupants could hear. 

"I'm sorry Daniel," Sammy said. "Could you repeat that for us please?" 

"She's hurt me if she rejected me," he replied, flushing scarlet as he was forced to reveal what he had previously kept hidden. He could now sympathise with Jack and Sam who had been forced to admit their feelings for one another in order to prove that they hadn't been programmed as za'tarcs. At least he only had to do it in front of one observer, instead of the three they had. 

But Jack and Sam had been flirting and the attraction between them had been obvious since they first met. When they first arrived on Abydos to bring him back to Earth, he had been surprised to see a side of Jack O'Neill that he had never seen before, which Sam had obviously brought out of him. Daniel had always had a respectful admiration of the medical doctor, and had admitted the first time that he saw her that she was very attractive. However, his missing wife had always been in the back of his mind even as his feelings for Janet began to grow. He had always thought that he and Sha're would have been together forever, and had found it quite disconcerting when he realised that he was falling in love with another woman. 

"Why would I reject you?" Janet asked, hoping that he meant what she hoped he meant. She had long decided what Doctor Daniel Jackson meant to her, but never expected him to feel the same way about her. As far as she was concerned, he still belonged to Sha're, and he would always be in love with his dead wife. She was just his doctor, and his friend and that would have to be enough for her. 

Sammy hit a small smile as her future parent's danced around the subject in question, neither one wanting to mention feeling feelings for the other. However, they seemed to be making some progress, which was more than she hoped for their first session together. 

"If I asked you out or something," Daniel mumbled, trying not to meet Janet's eyes, fearing what he would see. Having kept his feelings secret for so long, he still didn't feel ready to tell even the woman in question the truth, but with this persistent young women in the room with them, he didn't really have a choice. 

Janet just sat there, looking at him in amazement. There had never been any indication that he was interested in her as a woman, but why else would he want to ask her out on a date? 

It was up to Sammy to prompt Daniel to speak further. "So why were you so afraid of rejection?" 

"I have... feelings for her," Daniel said, falling back on Jack's tactic of not elaborating any further on the feelings that he had. 

"Really?" Janet found her voice, trying to keep her own emotions in control, although inside she was all but jumping up and down with glee. She could never have hoped for this, and only wished she knew where this confession would take them. Her first marriage had been lacking in 'feelings;' the main reason she had married so young had been her desire to have children. 

Nodding, he turned to look at her and was startled when her mouth descended on his. Initially, he froze with shock, before he responded and kissed her back, forgetting about the young woman on the other side of the room. Parting, he smiled shyly at her as he asked "I take it the feelings are mutual?" 

"Yeah," Janet smiled back, her voice full of love. 

"So why didn't you say anything?" Sammy asked, knowing that the confession of feelings was not going to be enough for the couple. They needed to explore their fears, considering the fact that they had both previous had what could be termed disastrous relationships. Daniel was beginning to think that he was cursed, as every woman he had ever cared about had suffered at the hands of the Goa'uld, and this wasn't something he wanted to see happen to Janet. 

"Fear," Daniel replied simply. "Fear that my having feelings for her would somehow cause her to suffer, or even worse be killed. Fear that she'd reject me, and our friendship would be ruined. I don't know. I don't have a very good track record with relationships - Sha're, Sarah... They both got infested with Goa'uld symbiotes, and I don't want Janet to be infested either." 

"Daniel, how often do I go off-world?" Janet asked. "It's not very likely that will happen to me." 

"Sarah wasn't even part of the Program," Daniel pointed out, one hand firmly gripping onto Janet's, almost as if he expected her to disappear in front of his eyes. 

"Okay, so that was just unlucky," Janet said. "But think about how I feel every time you go off-world, and every time you come back injured? I tried to stop myself from falling in love with you because I'm the one having to work on you. I'm more likely to use you, and I don't know what I would do if that happened. And even when you're on base, you seem to come in every other day because something in your office has it in for you." 

Daniel's face turned a very fetching red, and Sammy watched the scene in front of her curiously. The couple she knew as her parents were very open with their affection, and neither could keep secrets from one another for very long. "Uh, what would you say if I told you that the only reason I kept coming to the infirmary was to see you?" he confessed, not daring to look at either Janet or Sammy. Sammy tried to keep the smile off her face, as she watched the corners of her mother's mouth twitch upwards. 

"I'd say I'd rather you came down to the infirmary to see me without needing an excuse in the future," she replied, giving up as the smile spread across her face. Daniel looked embarrassed still, and Janet lay her head on his shoulder, and wrapped her arm around his middle. 

"Uh, can we go now?" Daniel wanted to know, clearly desperate to get away from the scrutiny of the girl and to show Janet just how much she meant to him. 

"Um, I guess," Sammy was unsure how or when the session was meant to end. That hadn't been covered in the training she had taken. She supposed that They had believed that the guides would instinctively know when to end these sessions, but Sammy had no idea. "Just remember that you can come back here anytime if you find that you can't talk about it back home." 

"Thank you very much," Daniel said, and Janet echoed the sentiment as he wrapped his arm around her waist and led her out the door. Sammy waited until the door closed behind them, before snapping her folder shut with a large grin on her face. 

"Yes!" 


End file.
